Ky Kiske
Ky Kiske (カイ＝キスク, Kai Kisuku) is a playable character in the Guilty Gear franchise. As one of the two leading characters (the other being Sol Badguy) he is one of the most well known characters and has been an integral part of the series since the first Guilty Gear. He is a very charismatic young man who possesses a strong sense of justice and a devout religiosity which sustain and guide him through all manner of shaking uncertainties. Character Design His usual outfit is a loosely-fitting, blue base version of the white dime-a-dozen Sacred Order of Holy Knights (aka, the Holy Order) Uniform, fastened together by a white belt buckle is inscribed with the word "HOPE". He is an extremely talented strategist, swordsman, and magic practitioner. In the novel Lightning the Argent it is revealed that his ability to create lightning projectiles from his sword Thunderseal is extraordinarily difficult, as lightning is the most difficult magic to control, a testament to his mastery of the weapon. Personality Ky is deeply religious man, the adjective describing both his devotion to God, as well as his commitment to the ideals of law, order, and honor. He is a diligent and scrupulous man, though despite his great faith and strong conviction he is not beyond doubt and not entirely incapable of seeing the colors between black and white. Loyal to his ideas more than his surroundings, Ky will not hesitate to investigate his superiors if he believes them to be undermining his conceptions of justice. He is compassionate man and chivalrous in the classical way, being known to hold back against female opponents if he is forced to fight them. Though his strong beliefs tend to color his moral world black and white, his experiences have developed his character beyond this caricature. In his Overture profile it's stated that his position as a king made him lose some of his zeal, but he gains a new perspective over things in its place. Story Background Ky Kiske is the current captain of the International Police Force (IPF). Charismatic and highly talented with both swords and magic, he was the former commander of the Sacred Order of Holy Knights (Seikishidan) during the Holy War (2074-2175 AD) that was fought between mankind and the Gears (the latter under the leadership of Commander Gear Justice). Orphaned at a young age during the war, he met the then-commander of the Sacred Order, Kliff Undersn. Afterward, Ky was told to come back after five years of training to see him again if he really wanted to fight. Five years passed, and Ky returned, ready to do battle. A year passed and due to the retirement of Kliff, 16-year-old Ky Kiske was recognized for his talent and was named the new chief of the Sacred Order. With the appointment, he was given the Thunderseal, one of the Sacred Order's holiest treasures and a weapon that allowed the wielder to manipulate the difficult element of lightning. Soon after his appointment, he led the Knights to victory and ended the 100-year genocidal war. The Order was disbanded after the Holy War ended and five years later, Ky entered the IPF. He was soon promoted to rank of captain. However, he is considered easily controllable and manipulated by higher powers who were unseen players from the Holy War. Guilty Gear After Ky hears rumors of bloodshed, huge prizes, and the possible resurrection of Justice, Ky Kiske enters a tournament that will select members for a second Sacred Order of Holy Knights. Guilty Gear X After hearing Justice's last words at the conclusion of the tournament, Ky hears new rumors, these ones of a new Commander Gear that doesn't wish to harm humans. He sets out to find the truth in Justice's final words and the flaws within his own concept of justice. Guilty Gear XX After rescuing a beaten Commander Gear Dizzy and entrusting her to Johnny's care, Ky returns to his normal duties as a captain of the IPF. As soon as he's returned to work, Ky Kiske is thrust into a new conspiracy which includes robot clones of himself, a secret organization, a woman in red named I-No, and his bitter rival, Sol Badguy. ''Guilty Gear XX Λccent Core Plus'' Ky investigates the Post-War Administration Bureau and fights its minions, ultimately separating from the police but continuing his labor as a banner of justice. He later helps out Dizzy control her power, and protects her. The two grow close to one another, marking the beginning of their romantic relationship. Depending on if players defeated Dizzy with an Instant Kill or not, Ky will either look after Dizzy, leading into his Path 1 ending, or he will leave Dizzy in Johnny and May's care again before going his own way (Path 2.) ''Guilty Gear 2: Overture'' Ky has assumed the position of king, reigning over the land of Illyria, armed with the sword Aquila, as he is keeping his love sealed with the use of the Thunderseal's power. Having grown much more mature and composed over the years, his rivalry and animosity towards Sol has diminished entirely, having entrusted his part-Gear son, Sin. Ky is shown at constant conflict towards his own ineptitude of being a father and a husband due to the racial issues regarding Gears. Gameplay Ky is a simple yet versatile character with long range normals and a variety of projectiles. He can rapidly switch between keeping the opponent away and turning on the offense, and has a number of very useful FRCs for this purpose. In particular, Charge Stun Edge (236D) is an exceptional pressure tool when used after a knockdown, allowing Ky to attack without fear of retaliation and repeat it if he succeeds. However he has one big disadvantage: his damage output is unusually low; whereas most characters can hit 60% damage quite easily with little or no Tension, Ky has trouble breaking 30% even with his stronger attacks. This means that a Ky player typically has to play better for longer each round and can't rely on cheap tricks. Because of his simplicity and reliance on fighting game fundamentals, Ky is an excellent choice for beginners. Powers & Abilities "Powers & Abilities" Command List Ky Kiske's Command List}} Themes Musical Themes *Holy Orders (Be Just Or Be Dead) I - Guilty Gear * Holy Orders (Be Just Or Be Dead) II - Guilty Gear X and Guilty Gear XX * Pillars of the Underworld - Guilty Gear XX: ♯Reload Korean OST * Holy Orders (Be Just Or Be Dead)III - Guilty Gear 2 * Sheep Will Sleep (If You Become Fatigued) - Guilty Gear Isuka Rivalry Themes * Conclusion (vs. Sol) - Guilty Gear * No Mercy (vs. Sol)- Guilty Gear X and Guilty Gear XX * Noontide (vs. Sol)- Guilty Gear XX * Revelations (vs. Sol) - Guilty Gear XX: ♯Reload Korean OST * Faith Shall Save Thee (EX vs EX Sol) - Guilty Gear XX: ♯Reload Korean OST * Keep the Flag Flying (vs. Order Sol)- Guilty Gear XX: AC * Re-Coming - (vs. Sol)Guilty Gear 2 * Communication (vs. Sin)- Guilty Gear 2 Character Quotes References and Allusions *Ky owes his name to the two musicians of Germany's Power Metal scene - Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen, former Helloween members. *Ky's theme name - Holy Orders (Be Just or Be Dead) - probably origins from Iron Maiden's song "Be Quick or Be Dead". *Ky's overdrive is named Ride the Lightning, and one of Metallica's albums has the same name. *Ky's Instant Kill is named Rising Force. This is probably an allusion to the album and song by Swedish rocker Yngwie J. Malmsteen. *Rhapsody, a band that is quite popular in Japan, has a song named "Holy Thunderforce", which could be another description of him. Trivia *It is hinted that Ky's wife in Overture is Dizzy, as his wife is referred as 'The Maiden of The Grove', and that Sin is part-Gear. Likewise, Ky and Dizzy's endings in Accent Core+ imply that they get closer together. *Ky's exact age is never revealed but various hints can determine the range. He's at least 20 years old in the first game and at least 25 in Overture. *In the fighter series BlazBlue, just as Sol gets his counterpart as Ragna the Bloodedge, Ky's counterpart is Jin Kisaragi; an authority figure with sword skills and blond hair and being the series' rival. Their contrasting difference, other than they wield different elements (Ky wields lightning while Jin uses ice), is that while Ky is just, honorable, if a bit naive; Jin is an obsessive, aloof and cruel, thus his rivalry with Ragna is more severe than Ky's rivalry with Sol. *Ky has more themes than any other character. He shares six songs with Sol, one with Order Sol and one with his own son, Sin, making a total of eight rivalry songs. *One of Ky's shouts during battle is "kokoda", meaning "here it is". But players always mishear this as "coconuts" because of the lack of English dub and translation. **Besides "coconuts," players always make fun of Ky's phrase in the Guilty Gear X anime trailer:"Oh no! I'm falling!" *During Ky's Install Kill (Rising Force), a figure of a woman can be seen curled into the ball of lightning, and then would fly along the projectile. Her nature is unknown. *Ky can be seen once in a black outfit in one of the early drafting books. *Takeshi Kusao, Ky's voice actor, is known for voicing heroic young men using swords. Gg_cs_ky.jpg|''Guilty Gear'' Ggx_cs_ky.jpg|''Guilty Gear X'' Ggxplus_pe_01.jpg|''Guilty Gear X Plus'' Bonus Guilty Gear Petit Art Ggxplus_pe_02.jpg|''Guilty Gear X Plus'' Bonus Guilty Gear Petit Art Ggxplus_pe_03.jpg|''Guilty Gear X Plus'' Bonus Guilty Gear Petit Art Ggxplus_pe_04.jpg|''Guilty Gear X Plus'' Bonus Guilty Gear Petit Art Ggxplus_pe_08.jpg|''Guilty Gear X Plus'' Bonus Guilty Gear Petit Art Ggxx_cs_ky.jpg|''Guilty Gear XX'' Ggp_cs_ky.gif|''Guilty Gear Petit'' Ggi_cs_ky.jpg|''Guilty Gear Isuka'' Ggxxr_cs1_ky.jpg|''Guilty Gear XX ♯Reload'' Ggxxr_cs2_ky.jpg|''Guilty Gear XX ♯Reload'' Portrait Ky_Kiske_Portrait.png|''Guilty Gear XX ♯Reload'' Portrait 2 ggxxac_cs_ky.jpg|''Guilty Gear XX Λ Core'' Gg2o_cs2_ky.jpg|''Guilty Gear 2: Overture'' Gg2o_cs1_ky.jpg|''Guilty Gear 2: Overture'' Portrait Ballky.gif|'Venom's' Ky Ball Guilty Gear Gg_am_ky.gif|Arcade Mode ending Guilty Gear X Ggx_am_ky.jpg|'Guilty Gear X' Arcade Mode ending Ggxae_am_ky.jpg|'Guilty Gear X: Advance Edition' Arcade Mode ending Ggxplus_sm_ky1.jpg|'Guilty Gear X Plus' Story Mode ending 1 Ggxplus_sm_ky2.jpg|'Guilty Gear X Plus' Story Mode ending 2 Ggxplus_sm_ky3.jpg|'Guilty Gear X Plus' Story Mode ending 3 Ggxplus_sm_ky4.jpg|'Guilty Gear X Plus' Story Mode ending 4 Ggxplus_sp_07.jpg|'Guilty Gear X Plus' Special ending Ggxplus_mm_20.jpg|'Guilty Gear X Plus' Mission Mode ending Ggxplus_mm_27.jpg|'Guilty Gear X Plus' Mission Mode ending Ggxplus_mm_28.jpg|'Guilty Gear X Plus' Mission Mode ending Ggxplus_mm_35.jpg|'Guilty Gear X Plus' Mission Mode ending Guilty Gear XX Ggxxr_am_ky.jpg|'Guilty Gear XX ♯Reload' Arcade Mode ending Ggxxr_mm_02.jpg|'Guilty Gear XX ♯Reload' Mission Mode ending Ggxxr_mm_28.jpg|'Guilty Gear XX ♯Reload' Mission Mode ending Ggxxr_mm_29.jpg|'Guilty Gear XX ♯Reload' Mission Mode ending Ggxxr_sm_ky1.jpg|'Guilty Gear XX ♯Reload' Story Mode ending 1 Ggxxr_sm_ky2.jpg|'Guilty Gear XX ♯Reload' Story Mode ending 2 Ggxxr_sm_ky3.jpg|'Guilty Gear XX ♯Reload' Story Mode ending 3 Ggxxs_am_ky.png|'Guilty Gear XX Slash' Arcade Mode ending Ggxxs_mm_ky.png|'Guilty Gear XX Slash' Mission Mode ending Ggxxs_sp_05.png|'Guilty Gear XX Slash' Special ending Ggxxs_sp_06.png|'Guilty Gear XX Slash' Special ending Ggxxac_am_ky.png|'Guilty Gear XX Λ Core' Arcade Mode ending Ggxxac_ex_ky.png|'Guilty Gear XX Λ Core' EX Characters ending Ggxxac_sp_01.png|'Guilty Gear XX Λ Core' Special ending Ggxxacplus_sm_ky1.jpg|'Guilty Gear XX Λ Core Plus' Story Mode ending 1 Ggxxacplus_sm_ky2.jpg|'Guilty Gear XX Λ Core Plus' Story Mode ending 2 Ggxxacplus_mm_01.jpg|'Guilty Gear XX Λ Core Plus' Mission Mode ending Ggxxacplus_mm_04.jpg|'Guilty Gear XX Λ Core Plus' Mission Mode ending Ggxxacplus_mm_05.jpg|'Guilty Gear XX Λ Core Plus' Mission Mode ending Ggxxacp_sp_06.jpg|'Guilty Gear XX Λ Core Plus' PSP Special Ggxxacp_sp_08.jpg|'Guilty Gear XX Λ Core Plus' PSP Special Special 12.jpg|'Guilty Gear XX Λ Core Plus' Special illustration 11 Special 13.jpg|'Guilty Gear XX Λ Core Plus' Special illustration 13 Special 15.jpg|'Guilty Gear XX Λ Core Plus' Special illustration 15 Special 18.jpg|'Guilty Gear XX Λ Core Plus' Special illustration 18 Guilty Gear Petit 2 Ggp2_am_ky.jpg|Arcade Mode ending Guilty Gear Isuka Ggi_am_ky.jpg|Arcade Mode ending Ggi_am_ky2.jpg|Arcade Mode ending Guilty Gear Judgment Ggj_am_01.png|Arcade Mode ending |} Sprite image:Ky_kiske1.gif External Links References Navigation Category:Guilty Gear Characters Category:Humans Category:Males Category:Holy Knights Category:Playable Characters Category:Allied Kingdom of Illyria Category:Masters Category:Guilty Gear 2 Characters